The Apocalypse Survival Manual (Three Days Before Doomsday, I Stockpiled Billions) novel Chapter 338

Chapter 338

After setting up the rooms, Zeph, Nicole, and Cola had lunch inside the storage space. Poppy was still asleep in her room.

Zeph knew time inside the space was limited, so he didn’t rest. Instead, he helped Nicole harvest the spybeans, in the black soil garden.

The soybeans weren’t fully grown yet. They were still in the edamame stage, leaves and pods bright green.

Thinking about how long they might be stuck like this, Nicole decided to cook and freeze all of them. Later, when she was bored, she could snack on them.

Cola had been watching. He started biting down on the soybean plants and yanking them out of the ground. He worked fast, though he scattered them everywhere.

The dog clearly had a competitive streak.

They picked the edamame, rinsed them, tossed them with seasoning, and set them on the stove to cook.

After showing Zeph the steps, Nicole went back to the room to sleep. When she woke, it was around 5 p.m. She was about to turn over when she felt a hand at her waist.

Zeph was lying on his side behind her, holding her, asleep.

Had she really slept that deeply? She hadn’t even noticed when he came in. She wasn’t sure if she had relaxed too much or if he was just that good.

Nicole poked him. “Stop pretending. I know you’re awake.”

Zeph opened his eyes but only pulled her closer. They were pressed together, faces close. His breath brushed her

skin.

Nicole’s mind went blank, and her gaze drifted away.

Zeph leaned in and kissed her.

She froze for a moment. Her body didn’t react, and she didn’t push him away.

They stayed like that, close, breathing in sync.

He didn’t take it further. He just held her until his breathing slowed. “Do you think the courthouse is still open?”

Nicole thought about it. “Probably not.”

“Then when everything is over, we’ll make it official.”

Nicole threw a pillow at him. “Who said I’m marrying you? Dream on!”

Zeph looked at her seriously. “I want to take care of you. Won’t you give me that chance?” 2

“Woof, woof!”

Outside, Cola started barking, calling for his handler.

Zeph fell silent.

Nicole laughed so hard that her stomach hurt. “Go. He’s calling you.”

1/2

+15 Bonus

Zeph had endless patience with Cola. They started with warm-ups, running back and forth, then moved on to spins, jumps, crawling drills, and more.

By the end, the dog collapsed on the grass, tongue hanging out, too tired to move.

Zeph crouched beside him. “Good job. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

After dinner, a little past 7 p.m., Zeph spoke. “Should we go out and take a look?” 1

She had been thinking the same thing. Time inside the storage space was limited, and using too much of it hurt.

By now, it was dark outside, which made it safer.

They carried Poppy out and secured her in the harness again. Nicole touched her cheek and whispered, “Sorry, kid. This is for your own good.”

Once everything was ready, they stepped out of the storage space.

When Nicole had pulled the pod inside earlier, the wave had already pushed it more than a dozen yards away, so it hadn’t landed back on the villa roof.

Luckily, it had come to rest on a relatively flat area. Otherwise, it might have rolled all the way down the mountain.

The good news was that the water had receded, but the distant roar hadn’t stopped completely. The sea had pulled back, but not fully.

Nicole raised her night-vision binoculars, but everything had been wiped out. The coastline was pitch-black.

It was too far to see clearly.

The water likely hadn’t dropped to a safe level yet.

Nicole stored the survival pod again and turned on her flashlight, about to head back, when Cola suddenly went still and let out a low growl.

Zeph’s expression tightened. “Someone’s inside the villa.”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify